Poland to pay compensation to CIA torture victims

Poland will respect the sentence of the Human Rights Tribunal at Strasbourg and pay compensation to victims of torture at CIA “black sites”, Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said.

foto:T. McCoy US Navy

“We have rule of law and for that reason we have to pay compensation,” Schetyna said in a radio interview.

The tribunal ordered Poland to pay compensation to two terrorism suspects currently held at the exterritorial US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Leszek Miller, the leader of the opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and prime minister at the time the torture took place on Polish territory, said any payments to the victims would be tantamount to financing terrorism.

Schetyna said the money would be paid into an escrow account and all steps would be taken to prevent it from financing terrorism. (an)